apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

San Francisco, let me beat my feet
Up and down Market Street
I'm gonna climb Nob Hill, just to watch it get dark
From the top of the mark

There's Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge,
And the Bridge of San Louis Rey
But the only bridge, that's a real gone bridge,
Is the bridge accross the bay

San Francisco, I'm coming home again,
Never to roam again, by gum
San Francisco, I don't mean Frisco
San Francisco, here I come!

I tried to send this sample sale notice to SF|AT via the "email us" form, but I kept getting an error message... So I thought I'd try the Open Threads. Modern Economy is having a sample sale next week, and it sounds quite awesome:

MODERN ECONOMY SAMPLE SALE
Thursday, May 4, 2006
5:30pm to 10:00pm
Fort Mason Center, Landmark Building C
San Francisco, California

Modern Economy's first ever sample sale is around the corner! At the sale, you'll find bedding, crib sets, throws, ceramics, table top wares, lighting, pet accessories, and more from the following talented designers: Dwell, Sara Paloma, Octate, Everyday Studio, Amenity, Perch, Illico Design, Variegated Inc., Studio Dinor, Holden Designs, AFortes Design, JefDesigns, Emma Gardner, inhabit, Salvor and Eieio. With prices at 30%-70% below retail, get ready to empty your wallet and outfit your home in the latest contemporary designs!

congrats to AT:SF! love the orange/blue combo

Bathrooms... has anyone ever found a way to make 80-year-old white mosaic tile look white? The historic preservation sites all recommend being very gentle with it, and not in a helpful way. The bathroom floor looks mostly white-ish for three minutes after a hands-and-knees scrubbing, but this isn't something I want to do several times a day.

Replacement is not an option -- we rent, and in any case, a good 1920s mud job is both difficult and historically irresponsible to rip out.

Attention Container Store Elfa users - would love to hear feedback. I'm thinking of using the system for a wall shelving and small desk area in my bedroom. I was inspired by one of the small apt contest finalists. They look incredibly easy to install, but I'm generally terrified of putting holes in my walls. Thanks!

I love it that AT-SF has a blue toolbar.

in regards to your bathroom tiles, have you considered putting interfaceFLOR over them? The Fedora tiles have a really short cut pile. You can easily cut them down to size to fit into tight places and around things like a toilet. Just a thought!

etslee - I've been really happy w/ my Elfa shelving. I have the kind where everything hangs from a rail, which is the only thing that is actually attached to the wall. I share your fear of driling holes in walls, & this system is great for people like us b/c the only thing you have to commit to is the single rail, which I chose to install right at ceiling height where I figure the holes would be even less noticeable. Another great thing about this system is its flexibility--you can always change the arrangement of the shelves later if your needs change, without having to rip stuff out of the wall or create new holes. There's a lot of other positive features that I won't go into here for fear of boring everyone, but I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have, b/c I put a lot of thought into all this before deciding to go w/ Elfa, & on the whole I've been really pleased.

Can anyone recommend contractors to install double pained windows?

A-M, thanks for reminding me about the sale.

ebrown: Curses! I knew I was forgetting something! The move is technically over. Now I am fighting with my boxes. This weekend I came out on top by a narrow margin.

Now, to see about that email address... hmmm... to post on the site or not to post, that is the question.

Wende-
When I lived in New York my bathroom had beautiful but very old and somewhat dingy floor tiles. My father, who is a chemist, suggested that I use Oxy clean-the original stuff in the tub container. Don't follow instructions. Dump about 3 or 4 big scoops in a 1/2 bucket of scolding water and stir. then scrub away. It worked for me.

Oxy Clean! Deb, that's exactly the kind of solution I was looking for. Thank you!

I may wait until Bathroom Week of the Cure to try it, as Foyer Week could kill me.

I'm in the middle of moving from the East coast to the Bay Area. With one month to go, I am trying to find just the right apartment - very stressful!

OXY CLEAN????? No kidding?

Oh boy has this solved a problem for me. I'm picking it up tonight. Glad I checked the thread.

Now I'm wondering how Oxy Clean works. Do you think it might kill ants who are in its path? Seriously? Nothing works except that ooky pasty crap you lay down and I'd like my cat to keep living.

I'd be using the oxy clean in the bathroom and that's where the ants seem to be at the moment.

Ok, so I finally had a brilliant idea for how to pimp the IKEA Ivar unit in my kitchen. I'd like to cut some parallel grooves at the front of each shelf, top and bottom; then have Tap Plastics make me some nice slider doors, ala old-school record cabinet... and voila! all of my crap would be hidden from view. Does anyone know of a carpenter or other skilled person who would take on such a miniscule job?

jackie, my friends put a bunch of cayenne pepper in their doorway (looks kind of weird, in my opinion), and they say that keeps the ants away... and their cat just ignores it.

I had 1940s antique tile in my old bathroom in LA that was extremely dingy and had very dirty grout when I moved in. I was shocked at how well a steam-cleaner worked to get all the dirt out and it must have been gentle because it's just hot water, no chemicals at all. The one I used was bright yellow and called something like "Enviro-Steamer" and was from Costco--I think the manufacturer is Rowenta. I won't lie--it takes a little elbow-grease, but the effects last for several months.

We were trolling the neighborhood thrift stores on the way to and from Dick Blick... and the surprise find is Hospice by the Bay (1173 Sutter, by Polk). They had a very nice blond MCM dining table that just needed some TLC on the top, plus nice large dark rattan chair, perfectly decent Victorian-type side chair, and MCM desk lamp. Prices weren't rock bottom, but they also weren't giving space to truly frightening-awful furniture.

(I didn't try to get a picture of anything, as they were hostile to the mere existence of cell phones.)

I see a nod to the PAC-NW, so I'll post this here.

For the PDX folks, there is a new furniture store at SW 12/Alder.

http://www.gingkofurniture.com/

I browsed around over lunch and was pretty impressed. Solid stuff and the prices weren't too scary.

piggybanking on jenpdx's post... those in the bay area may be interested to know that gingko has two locations around here as well (sf and palo alto). i've never bought anything there, but enjoy browsing in the pa store.

uh, make that piggybaCking -- not banking. no money being made off of these comments!

Heather,
Post it on my blog and I will grab it and then delete the post.

BTW, does one have to unpack boxes when one moves? If so, what are those square things in my basement?